A lone goal by the Manchester United forward is enough for Ivory Coast to successfully begin their AFCON title defence.
Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025
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Holders Ivory Coast squandered a number of chances, but Amad Diallo’s goal early in the second half was enough to beat Mozambique 1-0 and give them a winning start to their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title defence.
In the opening Group F game on Wednesday in Morocco, the Ivorians battled to break down their opponents in a competitive first half but took firm control after the break without converting the many chances they created.
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Diallo side-footed the ball into the net in the 49th minute to ensure the three-point haul in rainy conditions, but the scoreline would have been a lot more emphatic had the Ivorians been sharper in front of goal.
Wilfried Zaha, playing his first international in more than two years after his surprise recall for the Cup of Nations finals, wasted several chances, and Franck Kessie had two point-blank efforts saved by Mozambique goalkeeper Ernan.
Ivorian substitute Vakoun Bayo also had an opportunity with an easy header in front of goal but somehow put it wide, and in the 89th minute, Bayo had an effort cleared off the line with Ernan caught well out of his goal.
Mozambique brought on winger Dominguez as a second-half substitute at the age of 42 years, one month and six days, making him the oldest outfield player in tournament history behind only former Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who was 44 when he played in the 2017 final.
Mozambique are still to win a match at the finals, stretching back to their tournament debut in 1986. This is their sixth appearance with a record of four draws and 12 losses.
Diallo, centre, scores the only goal of the contest in the 49th minute [Khaled Desouki/AFP]
Dec. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Coast Guard is chasing down a third foreign oil tanker in the Caribbean, which refused to be boarded amid President Donald Trump‘s pressure campaign against Venezuela, reports said Sunday.
“The U.S. Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” an unnamed official told NBC News. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
The tanker Bella 1 was placed under U.S. sanctions in June 2024 under counterterrorism authorities, according to the Treasury Department, which said the vessel was part of a shipping network linked to Sa’id al-Jamal, a U.S.-designated Houthi financial facilitator.
Vessels in that network have been used to transport sanctioned oil, including Iranian crude, and the proceeds are directed to militant groups, U.S. officials have said in describing the basis for the sanctions.
Separately, U.S. officials said federal authorities obtained a seizure warrant from a magistrate judge authorizing them to take possession of the Bella 1, The New York Times reported. Officials cited Bella 1’s alleged prior involvement in the Iranian oil trade rather than any alleged links to Venezuela.
The ship was allegedly not flying a valid national flag when U.S. forces approached it, which would allow for it to be boarded at sea under international law. But the ship refused to be boarded and continued sailing, one official told The New York Times as another called it “an active pursuit.”
If seized, the Bella 1 would become the third tanker apprehended by U.S. authorities. On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard seized another tanker in international waters near Venezuela after Trump declared a blockade of Venezuela.
That tanker was flying a Panamanian flag and was carrying Venezuelan oil that it expected to sell in Asia, officials alleged.
Last Wednesday, a sanctioned oil tanker called The Skipper was also seized after it left a Venezuelan port. The ship was diverted to Texas and was allegedly flying the flag of Venezuela’s neighbor, Guyana, which said the ship is not among those registered there.
President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order reclassifying marijuana from a schedule I to a schedule III controlled substance in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
The incident marks the second time in recent weeks that the US has seized an oil tanker near Venezuela.
Published On 20 Dec 202520 Dec 2025
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The United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, according to officials quoted by international news agencies.
The incident comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
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This also marks the second time in recent weeks that the US has seized a tanker near Venezuela and comes amid a large US military build-up in the region as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Three officials, who were speaking to the Reuters news agency on the condition of anonymity, did not say where the operation was taking place but added the Coast Guard was in the lead.
Two officials, speaking to The Associated Press news agency, also confirmed the operations. The action was described as a “consented boarding”, with the tanker stopping voluntarily and allowing US forces to board it, one official said.
Al Jazeera’s Heide Zhou-Castro said that there was no official confirmation from the US authorities on the operation.
“We are still waiting for confirmation from the White House and Pentagon on the details, including which ship, where it was located, and whether or not this ship was beneath the US sanctions,” she said.
The US has seized a vessel in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, US officials have told BBC News partner CBS.
It is the second time this month that the US has seized a ship off the country’s coast.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Venezuela has not yet responded to the latest US seizure, but has previously accused Washington of seeking to steal its oil resources.
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
The operation was led by the US Coast Guard, similar to the operation earlier this month, CBS reports. The ship was boarded by a specialised tactical team.
In recent weeks, the US has been building up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.
The US has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.
The US has accused Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro of leading a designated-terrorist organisation called Cartel de los Soles, which he denies.
The Trump administration accuses him of and the group of using “stolen” oil to “finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping”.
Venezuela – which is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – is highly dependent on revenues from its oil exports to finance its government spending.
Trump’s announcement of a “blockade” came less than a week after the US seized an oil tanker believed to be part of the “ghost fleet” off the coast of Venezuela, which allegedly used various strategies to conceal its work.
The White House said the vessel in question, called the Skipper, had been involved in “illicit oil shipping” and would be taken to a US port.
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As military and economic pressure builds on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro,an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft was tracked on FlightRadar24 flying close to the Venezuelan coast. To our knowledge, at least in recent days, these aircraft have not been present on flight tracking software in this increasingly high-activity area. And if they have popped-up, their presence has been impersistent at best. At the same time, E-3s are no stranger to this region though and have played a role in drug interdiction operations for years in this exact area.
🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡️- A U.S. Air force E-3C Sentry, airborne early warning and control aircraft, is currently loitering off the coast of Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/oujrc0CpxA
While E-3s may have been present but not trackable over the Caribbean in recent days, this one being trackable is not a mistake. U.S. military aircraft executing easily trackable sorties very near Venezuelan airspace has been a key component of the pressure campaign placed on Maduro.
The reappearance of the E-3s is a relatively important development, as they would be key to any major kinetic operation against Venezuela. While the carrier-based E-2D Hawkeye, which have been a staple of operations in the area for weeks, is extremely capable, and in some ways more so than the E-3, they are not as well suited for providing airborne early warning, data-sharing and command and control functions for a large and diverse force beyond the carrier air wing. The E-3 also has a higher perch for its radar and passive sensors to take advantage of. It can also better integrate with USAF forces.
Meanwhile, other U.S. combat aircraft made their closest and most sustained publicly-known presence near the northern Venezuelan coast on Thursday. It’s worth mentioning that we do not know how close aircraft with transponders turned off have been getting, as we can only see the flights that are publicly trackable. These missions are part of Operation Southern Spear, a counter-narcotics mission that morphed into one aimed at Maduro and Venezuelan oil, the country’s main source of income.
Amid all this aerial activity, President Donald Trump today said he was open to notifying Congress before a direct attack on Venezuela. His comments to reporters at the White House today came a day after the House of Representatives shot down measures requiring the president to obtain prior permission for such an action.
“I wouldn’t mind telling them,” Trump said when asked if he would seek permission from lawmakers for land and boat attacks against Venezuela. He added that prior notification is not required.
“I don’t have to tell them,” he posited. “It’s been proven, but I wouldn’t mind at all. I just hope they wouldn’t leak it. You know, people leak it. They are politicians, and they leak like a sieve, but I have no problem.”
BREAKING: Reporter: Will you be seeking any authorization from Congress for any land attacks on cartels in Venezuela?
Trump: I don’t have to tell them, but I would not mind it at all. I just hope they would not leak it. They are politicians, and they leak like a sieve. pic.twitter.com/UpFHPtt2vX
Trump’s views on Congressional authority have generated debate on Capitol Hill that broke down almost completely along party lines, with nearly all Republicans in agreement and Democrats opposed.
Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the Commander-In-Chief must notify Congress within 48 hours after“introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The Resolution also says any such actions are limited to 60 days without subsequent Congressional authorization, though the President can extend that timeline by 30 days with a written certification of the need for the continued use of force.
Donald Trump does NOT have the authority to carry out his current plans to use military force in the Caribbean without authorization from Congress.
If he acts without congressional authorization, the Senate will move a bipartisan resolution to prevent the unauthorized use of…
Trump, who ordered a blockade against sanctioned ships carrying oil to and from Venezuela, continues to assert that the U.S. has a right to that oil. On, Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his blockade warning, telling reporters that the U.S. is “not gonna let anybody go through that shouldn’t go through.”
Trump on Venezuela:
It’s a blockade, not gonna let anybody going through that shouldn’t be going through…
The blockade announcement sparked a separate debate in Congress and elsewhere about its legality.
“American presidents have broad discretion to deploy U.S. forces abroad, but Trump’s asserted blockade marks a new test of presidential authority,” international law scholar Elena Chachko of U.C. Berkeley Law School told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Venezuela condemned the blockade and said it would take its case to the United Nations.
Venezuela has released a statement. Here is the English translation of both pages:
On the night of today, December 16, 2025, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, violating International Law, free trade, and freedom of navigation, has issued a reckless and serious… https://t.co/dS3e4Yib1Xpic.twitter.com/Irf9ECnaux
Despite Trump’s pronouncement, several ships carrying oil byproducts from the South American country sailed from Venezuela’s east coast under escort from that country’s Navy “between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning,” The New York Times reported.
“The ships transporting urea, petroleum coke and other oil-based products from the Port of José were bound for Asian markets,” per that story, citing anonymous sources. “The Venezuelan government imposed the military escort in response to Mr. Trump’s threats.”
🇻🇪🇺🇸 Venezuela’s government has ordered its Navy to escort ships carrying petroleum products from port following Trump’s blockade announcement.
Several ships sailed from the country’s east coast with a naval escort between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to… pic.twitter.com/xY9huYtMqa
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) December 17, 2025
The blockade announcement came after the U.S. government had already seized one sanctioned oil tanker, the M/T Skipper. That mission, which occurred on December 10, was led by the U.S. Coast Guard with elements of the U.S. military providing support.
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x
A U.S. Sailor directs an F/A-18F Super Hornet onto a catapult during flight operations aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Southern Spear (U.S. Navy photo) Petty Officer 3rd Class Gladjimi Balisage
The presence of aerial refueling tankers is also growing. KC-46 Pegasus tankers have been flying sorties out of the U.S. Virgin Islands for months, with a ramp-up in activity in recent weeks. There are now at least 10 KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers deployed to the Dominican Republic.
While these assets, along with about 15,000 deployed U.S. troops, are capable of limited sustained operations, it is far from the force that would be required for a land invasion or any large ground operation in Venezuela.
US Air Force KC-135 tankers forward deployed in the US Southern Command area of responsibility. USAF
Since September, U.S. military operations in the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Eastern Pacific, have already included nearly two dozen strikes on boats allegedly involved in drug smuggling. The first of these strikes, which came on September 2, has become the focus of particular controversy, including allegations that it may have constituted a war crime.
The Sept. 2 incidenthas spurred numerous Congressional briefings, but on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, said he was satisfied by testimony about that strike and that no further hearings would be held. It is unclear if there will be other Congressional action, though, since the Senate Armed Services Committee has also been investigating the matter.
The boat attacks continued on Wednesday, with another four suspected traffickers killed, bringing the total number of fatalities to about 100.
On Dec. 17, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known… pic.twitter.com/Yhu3LSOyea
Amid all this tension, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered to serve as an intermediary between Trump and Maduro to “avoid armed conflict.”
Lula told reporters on Thursday that Brazil was “very worried” about the mounting crisis between Venezuela and the United States. He added that he told Trump that “things wouldn’t be resolved by shooting, that it was better to sit down around a table to find a solution.”
The Brazilian leader suggested that he may speak to Trump again before Christmas to reinforce this offer “so that we can have a diplomatic agreement and not a fratricidal war.”
“I am at the disposal of both Venezuela and the US to contribute to a peaceful solution on our continent.”
🇧🇷🇺🇸🇻🇪 | Lula da Silva: “Estoy pensando que, antes de Navidad, posiblemente tenga que conversar con el presidente Trump otra vez, para saber en que puede contribuir Brasil para que tengamos un acuerdo diplomático y no una guerra fraticida”
WASHINGTON — As next week’s anniversary of Hurricane Katrina triggers recollections of rooftop refugees and massive devastation along the Gulf Coast, the White House has begun a public relations blitz to counteract Democrats’ plans to use the government’s tardy response and the region’s slow recovery in the coming congressional elections.
President Bush will visit the area Monday and Tuesday, including an overnight stay in New Orleans. He probably will visit the city’s Lower 9th Ward, the heavily black area that remains mired in debris, and is expected to meet with storm victims.
The trip will force Bush to revisit sensitive racial issues that arose with the flooding of New Orleans; at that time, civil rights leaders charged that the White House was slow to respond because so many victims were black. GOP strategists acknowledged that the administration’s failure to act quickly was a significant setback in their efforts to court traditionally Democratic African American voters.
The White House announced Bush’s visit Tuesday as a phalanx of administration officials stood before reporters to argue that billions of dollars had flowed to the region and millions more was on the way. The plans for the trip were disclosed one day after Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales announced that he was sending additional lawyers and resources to the city to fight fraud and abuse.
At Tuesday’s briefing, White House aides passed out folders and fact sheets that painted a picture of aggressive recovery efforts. A packet from the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the levees that were breached after the storm, carried the slogan: “One Team: Relevant, Ready, Responsible, Reliable.”
Donald E. Powell, the White House official in charge of recovery plans, declared that Bush was “fulfilling his commitment to rebuild the Gulf Coast better and stronger.”
The administration’s coordinated response is the latest example of White House officials maneuvering to cast a positive light on a campaign issue expected to hurt Republicans. Just this week, Bush acknowledged public anxiety over Katrina, along with concern about the war in Iraq and rising gasoline prices. But he defended his record and accused the Democrats of weakness, particularly on national security issues.
The White House effort comes as the Democrats, who plan to challenge Republicans on national security in this year’s midterm election campaign, are portraying the government’s response to Katrina as evidence that Bush failed to fix inadequacies exposed by the Sept. 11 attacks.
A report being released today by top Democrats, titled “Broken Promises: The Republican Response to Katrina,” features a picture of Bush during his Sept. 15, 2005, speech in New Orleans’ Jackson Square, in which he promised to oversee “one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen.”
The report argues that every aspect of recovery — including housing, business loans, healthcare, education and preparedness — “suffers from a failed Republican response marked by unfulfilled promises, cronyism, waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is scheduled to spend Thursday in New Orleans with fellow Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana to kick off what they call the “Hope and Recovery Tour.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco plans to arrive this weekend with about 20 other Democrats for additional events.
White House officials declined Tuesday to offer many details of Bush’s trip. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush would travel Monday to two Mississippi towns devastated by the storm, Gulfport and Biloxi, before arriving in New Orleans. He is expected to attend an ecumenical worship service at New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral, the backdrop to his Jackson Square address.
Leaders of the recovery effort said Tuesday that although progress had been slow in some areas, Bush would be able to point to successes in some New Orleans neighborhoods, including the famed French Quarter and the Garden District. However, neither area was damaged as severely as the Lower 9th Ward. The question for White House schedulers is how much to accentuate the positives while acknowledging the negatives.
“If you go to most of the city you see enormous progress,” said Walter Isaacson, president of the Aspen Institute and vice chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. “They are probably going to go to the Lower 9th Ward, which is very honest of them, because that’s the place you see the least progress.”
Isaacson, a New Orleans native, said he considered many of the Democrats’ critiques to be unfair. He credited the White House with safeguarding millions of dollars in grants for housing and levee reconstruction, some of which was only approved this summer amid a contentious budget debate.
“They protected that housing money and the levee money in the appropriation process when every congressman was looking at it greedily,” he said.
On Monday, Bush offered a preview of his anniversary message, contending at a news conference that despite frustrations about the slow arrival of housing funds and delays in debris removal, “the money has been appropriated, the formula is in place, and now it’s time to move forward.”
He suggested that $110 billion in federal funds had been “committed” to help the region rebuild, but confusion persisted Tuesday over what portion of that money had actually been spent.
During the White House briefing, Powell said that about $44 billion, about 40% of the total, had been distributed to hurricane victims, but suggested that state and local governments were mostly to blame for the gap.
The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, R. David Paulison, was contrite about mistakes made during the disaster aftermath. Paulison, who won Senate confirmation in May, a week before the 2006 hurricane season began, was named acting director in September after Michael D. Brown was forced to resign as FEMA director amid criticism of the federal response.
“Our communications system was broken — it was broken between the local community and the state, it was broken between the state and the federal government, and it was broken within the federal government,” Paulison said. “That was the first thing we had to fix.”
*
Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this report.
